


One winter night sometime

by JanaRumpandRCClara



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Anastasia Fusion, Character Death, F/F, Historical, Kid Scott, M/M, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-19
Updated: 2014-03-19
Packaged: 2018-01-16 06:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1335631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanaRumpandRCClara/pseuds/JanaRumpandRCClara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ally is looking for a home, Lydia is looking for a princess. When their paths cross, they decide to help each other. But maybe, Lydia needs a home too and Ally needs her own sort of princess. </p><p>Also, Stiles is on his way to his man, but whatever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One winter night sometime

**Author's Note:**

> Foreign names, yeah!  
> So, Allison and Lydia are Russian, Stiles is polish, Kate and Chris are Croat (because we felt like it). Therefore, they are respectively Aliisa, Lydiya (but she likes Lydia anyway, just to be different), Stiles (he doesn’t like his real name, duh), Katica e Kristofor. The harder is Peter I think, who became Pyotr. There are some others, but it’s all rather obvious (feel free to ask if you are confused somewhere, though). It’s all from the wonders of the internet, so correct us if you know any of those languages, please.  
> The changes in the family lines are for plot reasons, don’t fret. As for the historical part, don’t hesitate in sharing tips or doubts. We are trying to make this as realistic as possible while entertaining, but no one is perfect (except for Stiles).  
> Allison is my little princess, and this is for her. It was going to be one big as hell one shot, but again, I needed to post something for her.  
> Teen wolf does not belong to me (unfortunately) but to Jeff Davis (again, unfortunately)

Aliisa was dressed in her favorite purple dress, running around the halls along with her siblings laughing and having fun while her parents were doing the kind of stuff a czar and a czarina were supposed to. She loved parties, the colors, and the people smiling, everything shining just like in a dream. She was distracted by the game and the twirling until she saw a familiar face entering the hall, and her smile brightened as she ran across the room.

“Uncle Kris! You came!” She jumped into his arms and the man hugged her tightly. 

He was her aunt’s husband, but he was the one that cared the most about her. The one that took her to train archery and listened to her when she spoke. Her aunt, Viktoriya, was somewhat too serious for her taste, but Aliisa loved her too. 

“It’s great to see you, my darling.” He said, taking the girl in his arms to one of the many empty rooms nearby and putting her on the ground once more. 

He then kneeled in front of her, holding her hands. Aliisa’s eyes were distracted for a second when she caught those of a girl spying at them from afar by the end of the hallway. 

She didn’t have time to bother about her, though, as her uncle promptly smiled at her and said. 

“Aliisa, would you concede me this dance? Tonight is my last night here in Moscow.” He sounded sad, and her mood was instantly subdued. 

“That’s not fair! Can’t you two stay here a little longer? Paris can wait.” 

He huffed a laugh and ran his fingers through her hair. “Sorry, my child. I have to go back, but I do have something to keep you distracted while I’m gone.” He gesture for a servant she now saw was standing by them, and the boy handed him a velvet pillow with a golden music box on it. Kristofor picked it up and handed it to her.

“Would you sing with me?” 

Aliisa knew her eyes were shining, and she opened the music box listening to the melody. Kris was smiling as they sang together

“On the wind, across the sea, hear this song and remember. Soon you’ll be home with me. Once upon a December.” 

This was their song, the one Uncle Kris would sing every night for her to sleep when he was there. As the last note ended in silence, he pulled the key off the music box and showed it to her. 

“Can you read this?” 

She could and the words made her jump a little in excitement. “Together in Paris! I’m going to Paris? To stay with you and Aunt Vyctoriya?!” She was so happy, looking from her Uncle to her Aunt, and both of them nodded.

“We’ve talked to your father. In a month or two, you’ll come and expend the winter in Paris with us.” Her aunt said with a rare smile.

Aliisa didn’t think she could be ever happier than in that moment, hugging both of them. This was all she could have hoped for, she wanted to go with them so badly it almost hurt.

“Now, we must enjoy this beautiful party, agreed?” 

She nodded and held his hand to be led to the ball room. However, before they could start their dance, they saw Czarina Katica arguing with someone. Her uncle Kris gasped and pulled her closer. 

“Pyotr Halicz…”

Allison knew very little about that man talking to her mom, but that he came from a bad family, and that his sister and children had died in a fire. He hated her mom, and was a mean and dangerous man. She hid behind her uncle Kris legs, scared. 

“Leave now!” He mom shouted, pointing at the door. 

“Why so aggressive, Katica? Scared your family will be faced with the inevitable truth that you’re mad and psychotic? That they won’t be able to deny what you did to my family?” His voice was smooth and calm, which only made him scarier. 

“Your family is full of traitors!”

“Even the kids? What would you feel if I burned your children, all of them? Only because I disagreed with what the adults do?” His eyes met Aliisa’s and his smile creeped her out. 

“That’s Aliisa, right? She resembles Cora a lot, I wonder if she’ll have the same fate.” This sure sounded like a threat. 

The guards finally came and dragged him away then, but he didn’t stop looking at her for a second. Her mother held her close and kissed her forehead, whispering. “I’ll not let them hurt you, my love.” 

-O- 

Aliisa was scared. She could hear the people outside shouting and throwing things at their windows. She had been told to hastily put her pink coat over the white nightgown, and her mother and father ran ahead carrying her younger siblings on their arms. She was holding her Aunt Vyctoriya’s hand until she remembered something, and in her childish despair she decided to go back. 

“My music box…” She couldn’t leave it behind, it was too precious. She ran through the hallways and could hear someone coming behind her, and when she opened her bedroom door uncle Kris caught up with her. 

“Why did you do that? We have to go now.” 

“I needed my music box.” She ran to her night table and took the golden music box with a smile. There were more noises and much louder screams outside then, and her uncle closed and locked the door. He almost looked scared, looking around frantically. The girl was so confused, she wanted to scream and cry, but she needed to be strong. Kris grabbed his gun when he heard the men outside coming, but before he did anything a small trap door opened on the wall and a red-haired girl appeared, startling them both. 

She couldn’t be much older than Aliisa and was dressed in servant’s clothes, and the princess was pretty sure she had seen her before. Her uncle stared at her for a moment, but she didn’t look away. 

“Go through here, the passage leads outside. You two should be okay.” 

“Why are you helping us?” Uncle Kris asked, standing in front of Aliisa now. 

The dark-haired girl startled once more when suddenly people started banging on the door, shouting and shouting. The servant girl smiled weakly, looked at Aliisa for a moment and answered like it was the most obvious thing on her heart. 

“Because I do not wish to see them hurt the princess. If I were you I’d hurry, they’ll break through the door soon.” 

Kris didn’t hesitate anymore as he entered the passage and Aliisa looked at the girl once more. “Thank you.” The sound of the angry men was louder now and they were indeed almost breaking through the door. As she was pushed inside the passage and the girl closed the door, the music box fell off her hand.

 

Lydia stood there in the room, taking deep breaths, scared. Those men would do nothing good to her. She put her body in front of the trap door as they busted in, shouting and looking for the royalty. 

“Where are they?!” One of the men asked, pulling her hair. 

“They ran like the cowards they are.” She answered, trying to act like she wasn’t afraid of anything. 

Another man approached, one she knew and trusted. Lydia ran to Mister Stilinski and he held her for a moment. 

“Lydia, you shouldn’t be here. Go to my home, Claudia and Stiles are there.” 

Lydia nodded and stepped back. The man put his hat and jacket on her, and he gave one last look to the music box on the floor. 

If she in truth wished that Princess Aliisa survived this whole thing, well, it was no one’s business but hers.

-N- 

Aliisa was running as she had never ran in her whole life. Now they were down at the frozen river, and when she glanced back she could see the palace burning. It hurt her so much, to see that, to not know where her family was. She was cold, having never expected to go running out in the ice. Kris tried to keep her close, holding the girl’s hand too tight. When passed under a bridge, almost out of the gardens, she looked up and saw Pyotr Halicz there. 

A shiver ran down her spine and Allison felt the ice cracking under her. She screamed and tried to run, but tripped and fell face first on the ice. Kris kneeled next to her, fear more than clear now. 

“Come on, Aliisa. Get up.” 

She looked up, to where Pyotr was standing and saw his lips moving. And as crazy as it may sound, Aliisa swore she could hear what he was saying. 

“You’ll never escape me, child. Never.” 

Her uncle finally managed to pull her up and they kept running. She eventually looked back for a second and the mean man was nowhere to be seen - she doubted he had even seen him at all. 

When they arrived at the train station, a long while later, there was a massive confusion of people shoving each other to enter the trains. Kris was holding her hand painfully as they fought their way through the crowd. Eventually, though, she felt his hand being ripped away from hers and them him shouting.

“Aliisa! Hurry!” 

She got to the rails, running to catch up the train. 

“Uncle Kris!” She was desperate, dreading to be alone for even a second. She didn’t want to lose him too. 

“Aliisa, hold my hand!” He leaned over as best as he could, his hand extended. The girl was able to grab it. She was so scared her vision blurred. 

“Don’t let go!” She pleaded in tears. 

However, she could feel her hand slipping out of his grasp and her eyes fell closed against her will. Aliisa could hear her uncle shouting her name as she stumbled, and the last thing she felt was her head hitting the metal. 

-C- 

_Leningrad, ten years later._

Lydia had always hated the winter, which was an irony, considering she lived in the URSS. Things were not easy for her, or her adoptive family, though, only her and Stiles were left. Claudia died in a winter eight years ago and Mister Stilinski had married again and moved to somewhere sunny. The two young adults were finding their way around, mostly doing little scams and selling stuff in the black market. Usually they did little things, only good enough to make them a name in the dark side of things. Right now, though, she was trying to convince some sort of mob man that he was gonna get them a theater. It was hard, but they needed it badly if they wanted their big scam to work. 

The guy was trying to play smart with smart, just because she was a woman and looked like a ‘doll’ – the fucker had actually called her that. Stiles was a few meters down, distracted by some woman gossiping. Lydia didn’t needed to listen to know what they were talking about, there was only one thing people were interested, well, besides food and warmth, was the fact the old duke – Kristofor or some name like that was looking for his niece, Princess Aliisa. Lydia remembered her, back when she was just a kid. The girl had probably died along every other member of the royal family, but if the man wanted to be delusional, she would give him the best fake niece to help him cope with his problems. 

“Understood, you can have the theater.” The man said sighing. 

She smiled and turned on her heels, walking towards Stiles. “Stiles, honey.” She shouted, whistling to get his attention. The young man turned to face her and smiled.

“Lydia, dear. Got my part done.” 

Black marketers were shouting about things that they had allegedly got from the palace, or anything that could help people get through the day. 

“Well, I got us a theater.” She was so pleased with herself. “Everything’s going according to plan. All we need is the girl. Just think, Stiles, nor more forging papers, no more stolen goods. We’ll have three tickets out of here. One for you, one for me and for Aliisa.” 

They needed to leave, soon. Neither of them fit the conceptions of workers for the new regime. Lydia was too vain, and self-centered (she would not lie, she was both of those things, she was also smarter than any man she knew, and she knew a lot of men), Stiles was agitated and incapable of focusing in simple tasks, in addition, both of them had an uncanny interest in the same sex. 

People had not much acceptance for them. So Paris was where they were headed. Stiles started rambling, like he almost always did. 

“It’s just, Lyds. We’ll become history. We’ll find the right girl to play the part, and teach her what to say. Dress her up and take her to Paris, imagine the reward her dear old uncle will pay! Who else could pull it off but you and me?” She had to admit this was something no one else could come up like they could. 

“We’ll be rich.” She whispered, smiling. Lydia wanted to be rich, she wanted to have jewels and dresses, she wanted to be powerful enough so no one would ever judge if she loved her bed filled with men and women. “And more important, we’ll be out.” 

“Yes, we’ll be out.” Stiles looked dreamy to the distance, she knew he was thinking about their contact in Paris. The only person her brother really wanted to see again, his reason to be pulling all this off. Lydia smiled and Stiles smirked, and they both looked at each other before saying together.

“And the Leningrad will have some more to talk about.” 

-E- 

Ally was dressed in her favorite clothing that morning, her old overcoat, her pants and boots that had obviously seen better days, her dress over it – yellow and ragged – and her beanie. She knew she looked more like a boy than like a girl, but that was not a problem for her. She just needed to be out of here as soon as possible. The woman that directed the orphanage was one of the people that disliked her the most, so no surprise she wanted to be out as possible. 

“I got you a job in the Fish Factory. You go straight down this path till you get to the fork in the road, than go left – are you listening to me?” The woman was pointing down the street and looking really upset. Ally didn’t really min that, she put on her old red scarf smiling and kissed the kids foreheads as she left. 

“Bye, bye everybody. Yes, I’m listening.” She didn’t even bother with the woman anymore. 

“You’ve been a thorn in my side since you were brought here.” The woman said, trying to sound harsh and rude, but Ally could actually see that she was on the verge of crying. The young woman smiled and touched her cheek. “You act like you’re some sort of royalty or shit like that, instead of the nameless you’re. For the past ten years I fed you, and I put a roof over your head.”

“Yes, you did. Unfortunately, now, I have to go.” 

“How come you don’t remember who you are or anything, still you remember a bunch of things?” 

“I do have a clue to-” She said smiling a bit. 

“I know, ugh.” The woman grunted and pulled at her necklace (the only thing the girl had from before), her face changing to the disappointment that was more familiar. “Together in Paris? So you think you could go to France and find your family?” The laugh the old woman let out was filled with pity. “Little Miss Ally, you have to grow up and take your place in life.” Ally pulled her necklace back and hid it under her scarf, though, as usual giving her no heed. “In life and in line, and be grateful too.” 

The dark-haired girl frowned and turned on her heels, walking off, hurrying up as the gates were at last closed. She knew most of her dreams were only that, dreams, but she couldn’t give up on the hope to find someone who missed her. There had to be someone out there who would want her back. 

“’Be grateful, Ally.’ I am grateful. Grateful to finally be free.” 

The walk was lonely and she complained to herself to avoid the silence. It was so cold out there, why did it have to be so cold? She was distracted, trying to warm her hands (cursing herself for having lost her favorite gloves to one of the men in the bar near the orphanage), when she finally reached the fork on the road, and stood there looking at the signs. One pointed to the “Fisherman’s Village” and the other pointed at “Leningrad”. Ally knew where she was supposed to go, but still, she wasn’t completely sure.

“Go left, she says. Well, I know what’s to the left. I’ll be Ally the Orphan forever. But if I go right… Maybe I could find…” Her fingers reached for the necklace, and she felt the warm metal against her skin. "Whoever gave me this necklace must have loved me- Oh, this is crazy! Me? Go to Paris?” She looked up to the blue sky, and closed her eyes in her own sort of prayer.

“Send me a sign, a hint, anything.” 

Whilst she was distracted with her eyes closed, someone grabbed her scarf and pulled it off. Ally immediately opened her eyes to find a skinny and ragged boy – no more than six years old, if she had to guess – holding it and smiling.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey!” 

The boy walked a few feet further away, laughed and ran a few steps. Then paused to look again at her, like he expected her to follow him. Ally sighed - she would love to play with him right now, but she had to decide her future.

“I don’t have time to play, dear. I’m waiting for something.” 

He rolled his eyes at her, and she only sighed and closed her eyes. She didn’t even mind if he just stood there waiting – he would probably run away with her scarf, though. Ally heard the boy moving out of her line of sight and sighed. To her surprise, instead of being left alone, something cold hit her on the stomach. She opened her eyes and looked down to see new flecks of snow rolling down her coat, then looked up to the smiling boy and understood he had thrown the snowball at her. The young woman sighed in exasperation and started walking towards him. 

“Would you please leave me alone?” She tried to take the scarf, but the boy dodged her. Smiling openly, Ally sighed and tried grabbing at it again, obviously not succeeding. “Stop. Give me that-” When she tried to reach for the red cloth one more time she tripped and fell on the snow. The boy kneeled beside her and, after some moments, shook her shoulder and pointed to the road to the right. Finally, Ally understood what he was trying to say. “You think I should go to Leningrad?” She glanced up to him.

The boy's smile widened (he was missing a tooth, it seemed) before he nodded and got up, offering her a hand. Ally took it. “Couldn’t you just have said it? It would've been easier.” 

He looked down and touched his throat, shaking his head in a clear no. She suddenly felt bad for it, and messed his hair. “Sorry for that... Do you have a name?” 

He shook his head again, and in that moment, Ally decided something she may regret ahead – traveling with a kid wasn’t easy, but he seemed so lonely. She picked up the scarf and put it around his neck, then took her beanie off and put it on him too, and the boy looked at her in utter surprise as she held his hand and smiled. “I can take a hint. Do you want to go with me to Leningrad?” 

He nodded emphatically, which made her giggle. “Great. I’m Ally, and I’m calling you… Scott.” She didn’t know why, but that looked like a good name to him. 

Scott seemed delighted, anyway. Ally – still holding his hand – took a deep breath and took her first step towards Leningrad. They walked in silence at first, but she didn’t like that very much, so she started speaking. 

“You know, Scott, I’m nervous. I won’t turn back only because I’m afraid. It’s just I literally have the world ahead of me, and I never thought I would be able to really do what I wanted.” He looked at her as Ally spoke, as if she was the most interesting thing to ever happen in his life, and she couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. He was probably another product of a poor family or even an orphan like her. She should at least search a little for his family in case there was anyone at all, but judging from the bruises on his skin she now noticed, the boy would be safer with her. “Somewhere, I’ll find someone waiting for me, you'll see. I came to the orphanage when I was eight, I had no memory of who I was and what had happened to my family. Those were difficult times, back when the revolution happened. My family most likely thinks I’m dead. So, when I arrive home where I belong, 

I know they will be happy to see me.” 

On their path they passed through a house, and Scott wanted to play with the kids there, so they stopped for a moment. Ally sat on the stairs and the children's father sat beside her. 

“He yours?” He asked, looking at her. 

She smiled and looked down. “He’s my brother.” She didn’t want to get in any trouble, and he could be her son but that would imply things she didn’t want to be implied. 

“Oh, I see. You two are going to do what at Leningrad?”

“We’re going to live with some relatives.” I hope. The men's wife then showed up behind them, smiling sweetly. “Oh, look at what an adorable boy. He looks starved and cold, though. I’ll pick some things we can give you. It’s not much, but it will help.”

“Thank you so much.” She smiled gratefully at the kindness. Soon the father got up and beckoned his kids inside. “You guys have to go to school now. Say bye to your friend.”

The children giggled, and they seemed so honest and carefree. So this was what home and family looked like. The woman came from inside just then and handed Ally another coat and a small bag containing some food. “Good luck to you two.” 

The girl thanked her profusely, and then helped Scott change his coat. When they were a few meters down the path, she whispered to him. 

“Home, love, family. There was once a time I must have had them too.”

He seemed confused and she laughed. They continued their walk, joking – at one point Scott decided he was too tired and she carried him on her back for a while (later he tried to repay the favor, and they both fell on the snow, laughing at their own silliness). Soon they had to find a place to spend the night – Leningrad was further than she'd believed it to be - and both ended up hiding in a barn and leaving before the sun rise. The second day was a bit harsher, the food came to an end and she asked Scott if he wanted to go back. The boy seemed so scared at the thought of leaving her that he cried and she had to kneel and hug him tight, promising she wouldn’t leave him. 

 

They arrived at Leningrad around noon, holding hands and smiling at their success. Neither of them had ever seen a big city like that before (she asked Scott and he'd shook his head when she asked if he had ever left his hometown) and it was amazingly… different. There were a bunch of smells and loads of people, and this time she had to carry the boy on her back because he would be lost if she didn’t. Ally knew where they had to go, the Bureau to buy two tickets to Paris. She had some money in her pockets (ten years of economies, actually), that should be enough. They stopped at a little stand before and bought a soup so they wouldn’t pass out of hunger or cold. 

The Bureau was not crowded and she smiled pleased to Scott, who seems really excited about travelling. She approached the window with the boy by her side.

“Two tickets to Paris, please.” 

The ticket agent was a grumpy man that spoke too low, and she could hardly understand him. “Exit visa?” He was extending her his hand and the young woman frowned. 

“Exit visa?” 

The man rolled his eyes at her. “No exit visa, no ticket.” Then, he hung a ‘Lunch Break’ sign on his booth and slammed the shutters right on her face. When she tried going to the next one, she noticed all of them had done the same. 

Ally sighed disappointed and patted the boy’s head. “I guess we’ll have to find another way.”

Out of the blue, a sweeper woman old enough to be her mother approached the duo and whispered. “See Lydia… She can help.” 

Ally frowned, but she was not about to let any help escaped her. “Where can I find her?”

“At the old Palace, but you didn’t hear it from me.” And she stepped back, staring at Ally. 

The young woman turned to the boy, who looked as confused as possible. “Okay...” 

“Now, go, go, go.” 

They did as told and walked out, and for some reason she couldn’t stop thinking there was something odd about that name. “Hmmm, Lydia. That’s a fancy name, right, Scott?” The boy frowned and she laughed. “Forget it.”

\--

Lydia and Stiles were sitting at a large table in the theater, having a difficult time finding the right girl for the role. They had gone through almost everyone, and Lydia was on the verge of taking the role herself. The woman in front of them now was another total failure. Lydia pinched her nose bridge before crossing the name off their list and looking over to Stiles, who looked completely exhausted from all those tests, and he did the talking on this one. 

“Nice, nice, very nice, yeah…” 

The actress continued speaking, though, full of herself. “And I look like a princess, and I dance like a feather.” It took all of Lydia’s will not to laugh at the woman when she said that. Stiles bit his lip and looked up to the ceiling for a second before continuing. 

“…okay, hmm, thank you, thank you. Next please!” He almost sounded desperate when he called that. 

The next woman was wearing a big overcoat and looking a bit older than she should. She stood in the middle of the room and took off her coat, and well, Lydia felt her throat going dry - the woman was hot as hell, and wearing clothes that were definitely not appropriate for this cold. Besides Lydia, Stiles gasped like he was suffocating with something and slid down his chair in shock. 

“Uncle Kris. It’s me, Aliisa.” 

Even her voice was too sexy for the role. Lydia groaned and put her head down at the table. Why did those things happened to her? She only asked for an ordinary girl who looked and sounded like a dead princess to show up. She took a deep breath and looked up.

“Sorry, but we don’t think you’re right for the part.” 

The woman looked really disappointed when she picked up her coat and left. Lydia sighed and got up to leave as well. “We should go back home. There’s obviously nothing here for us.”

Stiles sighed and got up, gathering all the resumes and putting on his coat before following Lydia out to the street. Of course, the moment they were out and walking he started rambling.

“That’s it, Lyds. Game over. Our last kopeck gone for this flea-infested theater – not kidding, I think I've got fleas on me and that’s not nice -, and still no girl to pretend to be Aliisa. I’ll never get to see Derek again, and we’ll die in the gutter. Or worse, we’ll end up working in factories.” The young man had never sounded so frustrated in his life, which was saying something. 

“We’ll find her, Stiles. She’s here somewhere, right under our noses.” She grabbed Stiles arm and pulled out the music box from his pocket – the one she had risked her life for, disobeying Mister Stilinski to retrieve it back on that night. “Don’t forget, one look at this jewelry box and the Duke will think we’ve brought him the real Aliisa.”

Suddenly, a female voice that seemed to be talking to them startled them both. “I’m sorry. I’m looking for the Catherine…” They glanced to a girl in front of them, with a boy hooked on her arm. Lydia knew the type, single mothers from the farms. However, she was standing on the middle of the street, and that was just unacceptable, the red haired walked by and made sure their shoulders bumped to each other. The girl glanced for a second and said, before turning back to the man she was talking to. “Excuse me. Can you tell me where this is?” 

Lydia continued walking ignoring the girl. “Before he catches on, we’ll be off spending the ten million rubles.”

Even if Lydia tried not to care, she heard a man’s answer to the girl. 

“There’s nothing there. No, no there’s no one living there, go on.”

Right, now she had more things to worry about, though, like where the hell their Aliisa was.

-U- 

Ally and Scott took the whole afternoon to find where the Catherine Palace was, and then a day just walking towards. When they finally arrived, it was late and almost dark. They both walked in, moving carefully towards the boarded up doorway. However, suddenly and for seemingly no reason, Scott ran through an opening at the bottom of the door without waiting for her to find a way in too. Ally took a deep breath and tried to catch a glimpse of him between the boards.

“Scott? Scott where are you?” 

Ally pulled a board, but the damned thing came loose at once and she fell backward with a big crash, luckily not hurting herself too much.

She got up and left the board there, entering the Palace at last, where Scott stood waiting for her, looking worried. “Don’t do that again. You worried me, Scott.” She admonished, trying to be the responsible one for them both.

He looked down, seeming sorry and she sighed - this boy had just a lost puppy vibe about him that could probably convince her to do anything. When they entered the hall, she took off his scarf and her overcoat at the relative warmth, Scott right behind her as she walked up the stairs. There was just something about this place, something that made her feel weird. The sun was going down and the place was getting darker, but this didn’t scare her. Coming soon to big golden doors, Ally opened them and called out.

“Hello, anybody home?” 

There was no answer, so she decided to enter the partially destroyed room full of scattered things, Scott getting distracted by a sword and other once shinny things. Ally, though, decided to inspect a broken plate, all silver and shine. The moment she touched it, her mind seemed to buzz, so she let it go. It was almost like she had seen people on a dinning room, having fun. Then she walked to a large vase that had dancing bears painted on it - pretty, but not her sort of thing. 

"This place, it’s like… It’s like a memory from a dream.” 

She looked towards the huge staircase, at the enormous room that was ahead.

“Scott, come here.” 

The boy was soon next to her, and she laughed at his eagerness and offered him her arm. “Let’s pretend we’re nobles.”

He smiled, adorable dimples showing, and hooked his arm on hers. They walked halfway down the stairs, until an enormous portray of the royal family appeared ahead of them. She stared at the painting for a few moments, something in the back of her mind telling her they were familiar - probably from a picture on an old book or something like that. She left the coat and Scott’s scarf on the floor along with the beanie he had now taken off, and they skipped the rest of the way down. For no reason, Ally started humming that weird melody she sometimes thought about. 

They danced in the ballroom, and she could almost imagine the place filled with nobles dressed in things like those of the paintings, dancing to a music like the one she hummed. In a world like that, Scott wouldn’t be so skinny or look so tired, she wouldn’t have to worry about any man touching her on the street or saying bad things. They wouldn’t be hungry or cold. 

“Imagine, Scott, us at a ball and the royal family coming, and we dancing with them. You could dance with Aliisa, since she was the youngest of the girls. And if I was lucky, I could dance with the czarina’s brother. There is no way I would ever dance with the czar himself.” 

Scott was smiling and he let go of her to dance with an imaginary princess. Ally laughed and said, turning her back on him. “You can have her. Since you like Aliisa so much, I think I should leave you two alone.” She took two steps towards the staircase before he was hugging her from behind. She laughed loudly and turned around again, holding both his cheeks in her hand and kissing his forehead. 

“I know, I’m away better than a princess long gone, right?” 

He nodded and she hugged him tighter, humming the song once more. Somewhere in her mind, a sentence slipped through and she murmured it against the top of his head.

“Once upon a December…” 

Then all the magic of the moment was cut too soon by a loud voice.

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

Both of them turned to see a couple standing on the balcony, the woman red-haired and dressed in fairly decent clothes, the man young and skinny. Ally gasped, startled, and her first reaction was to run away, pulling Scott by his hand. She heard the sound of one of the strangers chasing them, but she stopped to pick up their clothes anyway. 

“Hey! Stop! Hold on a minute!” The woman’s voice surprised her, and in front of the portrait of the royal family Ally stopped, keeping Scott behind her to protect him as best as she could. The other woman just stood there looking at her for a moment, looking rather surprised.

“Now, how did you get in here?” 

The man was right behind her now and seemed to be shocked as well. A slow smile then spread across the woman’s face, and Ally wasn’t liking that. The red-haired turned to the man and spoke to him. 

“Now, Stiles, do you see what I see?” 

“Oh, yes!” The man – Stiles? – punched the air, smiling openly. Scott at least seemed more curious than afraid, so he couldn't be so bad. 

“So, do you have a kid?” The woman asked, arching her eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest.

“He’s my brother, his name is Scott.” She wasn’t sure why she was so angry every time someone said Scott could be her son, but it wasn't time to think about that. 

Stiles came closer then, and offered his hand to Scott. “Hey there, little man.” 

Scott looked up to Allison as if asking her permission. She sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. “He can’t speak.” 

The young man smiled and just replied unfazed. “Can you play then?”

The boy looked over to her once more, Allison smiled and nodded to him. Scott turned to Stiles and nodded happily. 

“How cute.” The red-haired woman sounded sarcastic, but whatever. Ally looked up to her and decided to ask her what she should have asked from the start.

“Are you Lydia?’ 

The woman smiled sideways and stepped closer. “Depends on who’s asking.” 

It was definitely her, the woman who stood in front of her and seemed like a noble, all delicate make up and curled hair. “My name is Ally. I need travel papers for Scott and me. They say you’re the one to see, even though I can’t tell you who told me that.”

Lydia gave her a knowing smile and started circling her, looking her up and down. Ally did not like this, so she put on her overcoat again and took a step towards Scott, who had been playing with Stiles but now stood in confused silence by her side. 

“Why are you circling me? You look like a vulture doing that.” Or one of those men who think I’m some sort of piece of meat. 

Lydia blinked and looked up to her face again. “I’m sorry, Elly.”

“It’s Ally.” 

Lydia just made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Ally, it’s just you look an awful lot like-. Well, never mind. Now, you said something about travel papers?” She turned her back to the dark-haired girl then, and walked a few steps away before looking back. “Where do you wanna go?” 

“We’d like to go to Paris.” 

Lydia glanced over to Stiles and smiled once more, this time sharper. “Paris, I see.” She walked around, like she was trying to be dramatic or something like that. “Do you have something like a last name, Ally?” 

She scratched the back of her hand, embarrassed. “Well that will sound incredibly weird, but… I don’t have one. I was found wandering around when I was eight, right after the revolution.”

Lydia was now curling a strain of hair as she spoke, a plotting smiling firmly placed on her lips. “And before that?”

“I know it’s very strange, but I swear I’m not running from anything, I just don’t remember. I have very few memories of my past.” 

Scott held Ally's hand and she glanced over to him, ran her fingers through his hair and whispered. “It’s fine. I'm working on making good memories.”

He smiled and nodded, very pleased with everything it seemed, and Ally looked up to Lydia who was talking to Stiles in whispers. When they noticed her gaze both stopped, and after a few moments of uneasy silence she decided to continue speaking. “I have a clue on my past, though. Paris.” Lydia muttered something at that and rolled her eyes, which to be honest was quite annoying. “So, can you two help me or not?” 

Lydia whispered something more to Stiles and the boy suddenly took four tickets from his coat. Ally could almost feel her eyes shining - this was the perfect, and she could pay for two without much problem. Before she could articulate anything, though, the red-haired spoke in a velvet voice. “I sure would like to help you - in fact, oddly enough, we are going to Paris ourselves.” Stiles handed the tickets to Lydia, and Ally didn't dare take her eyes off of those. “Ah, ah, and I’ve got four. Well, these two are mine and Stiles’", and she put the tickets on her coat’s pocket, holding the two remaining in her hand. 

Ally tried to grab them, but failed. “No no, Ally.” The woman continued speaking. “Unfortunately, the third one is for her, Aliisa.” She gestured up, towards the portrait. Ally and Scott looked up to what Lydia had pointed at, but before the girl could say anything Stiles and Lydia had already taken her to another portrait - this one of a man dressed in a military suit, and which Stiles explained to Scott.

“We are going to reunite the Grand Duchess Aliisa with her uncle, my lad.”

And Lydia spoke softly into Ally’s ear. “You do kind of resemble her, don't you think?” 

“The same brown eyes.” Stiles said from the other side. 

“Argent’s eyes.” Lydia continued.

“Katica’s smile.” 

“And Alexander’s chin.” 

Stiles held her hand and smiled. “Oh, look, she even has the aunt’s hands.” 

The dizzying speech kind of scared her, and she pulled her hand away. Scott was soon in front of her, trying to offer some protection (even though he was too adorable, threatening as a puppy). Lydia ignored her reaction and kept going. “She has the same age and the same body type too.” 

Ally frowned, confused. “Are you trying to say you think that I’m Aliisa?” 

“All that I’m saying is that I’ve seen one thousand girls in these last days, and not one of them looked as much like the Grand Duchess as you. Look at the portrait.” 

Ally didn't do that though, just sighed and pulled Scott closer. “I thought you were crazy from the beginning, but now I think you’re both mad.” She turned on her heels, and started walking away with Scott close to her. “We’re leaving.” 

Stiles rushed ahead and touched her shoulder. “Why? You don’t remember what happened to you, right?” 

Lydia was soon on her other side. “No one knows what happened to her.” Her voice was smooth and it made Ally shake a little. 

“You’re looking for family in Paris.

“Her only family is in Paris.” Ally had stopped walking and Lydia smiled openly. “Ever thought about the possibility?” 

“Of being royalty? No way.” She frowned. “It’s kind of hard to think you’re a Duchess when you’re sleeping on a damp floor. But sure, yeah, I guess every lonely girl would hope she’s a princess.” Ally looked down and smiled, imagining herself as one of those fairy tale princesses. 

Lydia let go of her and walked away then, seemingly distracted, as Stiles stayed there talking to Ally. 

“Somewhere, a little girl is waiting to be found.” 

Before he could keep going, though, Lydia grabbed his arm and pulled him along, turning their backs to Ally, glancing over her shoulder whilst she walked away. 

“I really wish we could help, but the third ticket is for the Grand Duchess Aliisa. Good luck!” 

Ally sat on the floor, sighing as Scott caressed her hair and pointed at the big portrait. The princess indeed resembled her, but again, many girls probably did. Or not, according to what Lydia had said. She looked at the man’s face, and somehow she felt this was not a stranger’s face. Scott touched her necklace and smiled. 

“You think it’s possible?”

He nodded, grinning openly to her. Ally took a deep breath and got up on her feet, holding his hand before running after Lydia and Stiles. 

“Lydia!” The woman glanced back at her once more, but did not stop walking away. Ally shouted again, running some more. “Lydia, wait!”

The red haired turned and looked back at Ally, looking as calm and controlled as possible. 

“Did you call me?”

Ally stopped in front of them, her breathing a bit erratic. “If I don’t remember who I am, then who’s to say I’m not a princess or a duchess or a whatever it is.” 

Lydia seemed interested now, or at least willing to hear. “Go on.” 

“Yeah, and if I’m not Aliisa, the Duke will certainly know right away, and it’s all just an honest mistake, right?”

“Sounds plausible.” 

Stiles interfered, smiling wide and looking as friendly as possible. “But if you are the princess, then you’ll finally know who you are and have your family back.” 

Lydia smiled to him, clasping her friend’s shoulder. “You know, Stiles is right! Either way, it gets you to Paris.” 

Ally finally offered Lydia her hand, beaming, while Scott jumped around with Stiles like they were two kids. The other woman seemed a little taken aback by it, biting her lip for a split of a second before shaking the dark-haired girls hand. Ally knew she had a strong grip – she had been raised with factory workers, after all - but it was fun to watch how surprised by it Lydia seemed. 

“Right. Let’s do this!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading!  
> I hope you liked it! And please feel free to suffer with me and Jana (my lovely beta) on tumblr: pandora-is-on-the-impala and spice-and-raging-kittens  
> Feel free to leave comments and kudos or anything!  
> I'll probably post it all this week since I have most of chapter 2 done!  
> Kissu


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